Sheila McNulty

Sheila McNulty was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2011.

My years at the Wildcat were filled with long days and longer nights trying to come up with scoops. In those days, one didn’t search for them around the internet but in the garbage from the president’s building; by following administrators around after hours, and chasing every lead that came into the basement newsroom.
I was unusual in those days – at that time a republican – and remember angering the staff because I endorsed the first President Bush. Now I am a full-fledged democrat, but I do
enjoy thinking about how riled up everyone on staff became over that one.
Another favorite time was when I wrote an editorial about the waste going into raising Lute Olson’s salary to ensure he didn’t leave, when so many other departments were so needy. That time the sports staff could have killed me. Even the local sports media picked that one up – racing in for interviews with me as the editor.
But journalists are taught to speak the truth (or what they believe to be the truth), so I raced ahead with my own agenda!
The newsroom sofa was a great place for naps. Louie’s Lower Level kept us fueled (the evidence was the constant stack of trays filled with empty dishes and dirty silverware all over the newsroom). And the staff parties kept everyone friendly.
Great memories. The most fun I have ever had working at a newspaper.

Work Experience

The Financial Times

Houston, Texas                                                                                                  2001-Present

US Energy Correspondent: Covered the collapse of Enron and Arthur Andersen, its accounting firm, as well as the energy trading crisis that followed; BP’s fall from grace following its Texas City explosion; the dramatic rise and fall of oil prices; growing public disenchantment with fossil fuels; the boom in onshore US natural gas; the fallout from the Macondo accident; increasing concerns about the environmental impact of oil and natural gas production; and the political and cultural backdrop against which all this enfolded – Texas.

Singapore/Malaysia/Brunei                                                                                     1997-2001

Regional Correspondent: Covered the Asian economic crisis and political and cultural issues of these Southeast-Asian nations.

Dow Jones News Service

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia                                                                                          1996-1997

Bureau Chief: Led the bureau’s coverage of the Asian economic crisis, while managing the staff of four and editing their copy.

Harborside, New Jersey                                                                                                   1996

Desk Editor: Edited copy from around the world in the Dow Jones News Service headquarters.

The Associated Press

Bangkok, Thailand                                                                                                  1994-1995

Correspondent and Assistant News Editor: Covered Thailand and the surrounding countries of Cambodia, Laos and Burma while deciding news coverage and editing stories in this Southeast Asia control bureau.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia                                                                                         1992-1994

Correspondent: Covered the largest U.N. peacekeeping operation in history, the  Khmer Rouge guerrilla group’s refusal to cooperate with it, and the ensuing conflicts as Cambodia struggled to emerge from two decades of conflict.

Bangkok, Thailand                                                                                                           1992

Reporter: Covered the series of pro-democracy demonstrations that erupted into the worst political violence Thailand had seen since 1976. Soldiers opened fire on tens of thousands of students and middle-class workers in an attempt to end the rallies, killing dozens and wounding hundreds more.

Newark, New Jersey                                                                                               1990-1992

Reporter: Covered state, national and international stories for news, business and sports wires; edited state stories; and wrote and edited state broadcast report.

Free-Lance

East and Southeast Asia                                                                                         1989-1990

Reporter: Covered the aftermath of the June 4, 1989, massacre in Beijing and the resulting protests in Hong Kong; Cambodia’s struggle for peace; and the plight of  Indochinese refugees in Thai camps as they prepared to resettle in the United States.

Arizona Daily Wildcat

Tucson, Arizona                                                                                                      1988-1989

Editor-in-Chief: Managed daily the news, sports, entertainment, layout, copy, photo   and editing staffs for this 22,000 circulation, independently-run college newspaper.

During the previous three years, I served as city editor and reporter for the paper, the sixth largest daily in Arizona.